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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Rory Carroll

Irish amateur historian on lonely mission to save ‘bogeyman’ Cromwell from genocide charges

A black and white depiction of Oliver Cromwell’s troops killing civilians during the seige of Drogheda in 1649.
Detail from a depiction of Oliver Cromwell’s troops during the seige of Drogheda in 1649. Author Tom Reilly claims history books conflate the killing of inhabitants. Photograph: Archive Photos/Getty Images

Tom Reilly has been mocked, vilified, challenged to a duel and threatened with death for waging a one-man campaign to rehabilitate the greatest villain in Ireland’s history.

The Irish amateur historian has spent three decades attempting to convince his compatriots that Oliver Cromwell, the 17th century English conqueror, was honourable, decent and not genocidal.

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